Italy against Russia in titanic quarterfinal clash
Preview
Just before women’s CEV EuroVolley 2021 hosts and defending champions Serbia take on France in the role of favourites for the last vacancy in the semifinals in captain and setter Maja Ognjenovic’s milestone 300th national team cap, the Stark Arena in Belgrade will set the stage for the most interesting clash in the quarterfinals, that between two-time continental titleholders Italy and the most decorated team in the history of the competition, Russia.
Although the Russians, led by 17-year-old star Arina Fedorovtseva, did afford losing a couple of matches in Pool A, to Serbia and Belgium, they finished pool runners-up and moved forward to the eighthfinals, where they managed a 3-1 victory over Belarus.
Fedorovtseva is the team’s best scorer so far on a tally of 117 points. She is also by far the best server of the tournament having hammered out a fantastic 33 aces, almost double the 17-ace tally of second best Paola Egonu of Italy.
Russia are by far the most decorated team in the history of EuroVolley. They have claimed 19 of the 31 continental titles so far, 13 of them as the Soviet Union. The last time they triumphed with the European crown was back in 2015.
Unlike the Russians, the Italians have yet to lose a match at EuroVolley 2021. They went through their Pool C in Zadar undefeated and followed up with a four-set win over Belgium in the first elimination round.
In addition to being the second best server of the tournament, star opposite Egonu is also the third best scorer on a total of 125 points.
Italy have been on the European Championship podium seven times, with two gold, two silver and three bronze medals to show for it.
Davide Mazzanti“The young Russian formation has a lot of potential and has grown a lot in the course of this European Championship. Surely we will have to do a great job in blocking and defence because they have very strong attackers. I expect a brave match from my girls. We need to play boldly because the more risks we take, the more quality we gain. I think this is the thing we need to look for the most during the match. We just have to go out and try to play courageous volleyball."
Head coach of Italy
Italy and Russia (including the Soviet Union) have met 13 times at the European Championships. Italy won four times, all of them within the last five encounters between the two teams.